If I were running an automotive company like GM or a ride-sharing corporation such as Uber, I’d be wondering if Musk was hoovering up information about the self-driving car tests of Tesla competitors. If I were a venture capitalist, I’d wonder if he was able to see which new technologies were closest to being commercialised and how, so as to better jump ahead of potential competitors.

Then, there are the longer-term competitive advantages that Musk could gain by incorporating data sets from different departments into his own artificial intelligence systems. (The White House claims he isn’t doing this, but there’s no proof either way.)